5 Undeniable Signs It's Time To Leave Your Job

Part of Kathy Caprino's series "Living and Working Better"

For many years during my 18-year corporate career, I remained in a number of roles I disliked, and a few of them were a terrible fit. I see now that there were some critical factors that influenced my strong resistance to making the changes I needed to, including worries about money, self-esteem and ego issues, confusion as to what I really wanted, reluctance to start over in a new job, and just plain fear.

Now, after two career reinventions and 16 years of running my own coaching and consulting firm (and loving it), it's clear that in my corporate life I also lacked an essentially important mindset – an entrepreneurial approach to my work and professional life that would have helped me be more nimble, flexible, brave, resourceful, and creative in my efforts toward building a livelihood that would joyfully match who I really am, on the inside, and what I cared about most in life.

Instead, I stayed stuck in a tight box of my own creation, because I didn’t understand how it truly works, to find roles we love, be well treated and respected, achieve great compensation for work we're proud of, and thrive in it.

My research with mid- to high-level professionals over the years reveals that there are five undeniable signs that will clearly indicate the need to change, shift or pivot what you’re doing – either by modifying your specific job, leaving your current employer or shifting your entire career. Sadly, many professionals stay stuck for years in denial about these signs, because they’re just too frightened to heed them and take proactive measures until crisis hits and forces them to consider a new direction.

The five signs that you should leave your job or employer or change directions are:

#1: You’re unhappy most of every day doing this work.

This is not brain science here – the clearest sign that you need is a change is how you feel internally about the work you’re doing every day. 

The majority of the time, are you feeling unhappy, depressed, thwarted, bored, misunderstood, or mistreated? 

Do you feel that the “real you” just can’t come out in this job, and the way you love to work isn’t honored or respected? Do you wonder how you ever ended up here, and fantasize daily about doing something different?

Don’t be in denial about your feelings – they’re pointing you to a very real situation that needs to be dealt with. 

Remember: You don’t have to be miserable or lose your sense of self in order to be gainfully and joyfully employed.

#2: The environment is tainted with extreme toxicity and terrible leadership, including your boss and colleagues.

A job or career isn’t just about the functions and tasks you perform every day. A job – and your success and joy in it - is shaped by a myriad of other factors including:

? Your boss, colleagues, and the leadership dynamic of the company (if there's narcissism, you'll suffer)

? How your organization treats all of its human resources (including you and everyone else around you) and if psychological safety is possible

? The outcomes that the company is driving toward, and whether you respect and support these outcomes

? The growth you can achieve in this role (is it boring, stagnant, and deadening to you?)

? The collaborative spirit and positive, growth-inducing behaviors (or total lack of them)

? And finally, how well your dominant action style is suited to the action approach your company and boss demand of you (to learn what your dominant action style is and leverage it more fully, and why you need to, take my quiz.)

Looking holistically at your job – and understanding all the dimensions of it – will help you see more clearly if you are right for this role, or if you’re more suited to thrive in another job or type of work experience altogether.

#3: The skills that you’ve been hired to use for this job aren’t a fit for what you’re good at or enjoy.

So often, people don’t understand that 

the skills you possess are not at all the same as the natural talents and abilities that you enjoy using each day. 

In other words, you may be “great” at updating spreadsheets (or overseeing projects, or doing event planning) but in reality, you may actually hate doing it. What we’re good at is not the same as what we love doing. If your job requires you to use skills that aren’t enjoyable or easy for you, you’ll be miserable and drained every day in your job. And you’ll feel like an impostor much of the time.

#4: You believe deep down that you’re meant for better, bigger, and more thrilling things.

I’ve interviewed hundreds of successful career changers, and many of them have shared with me some version of this:

“I had this terrible, nagging feeling for years that I was made for better things than this,

but I just didn’t act on that feeling until I finally snapped and say “YES!” to myself.”

Many people, particularly women, feel ashamed and embarrassed to admit that, deep down, they feel they are made for better things than their current role. They’re afraid this sounds boastful or arrogant to think these types of thoughts. They often feel guilty that they're longing for something different because they make great money in this career, and they feel they should be grateful for having this job (and their friends and family members rub it in incessantly that they should be grateful for it).

But these thoughts and feelings are not something to ignore – they’re pointing to the fact that there is another direction waiting for you, one that will bring more joy, success, reward, recognition and satisfaction to your life. And you don't have to risk everything to get on the path to exploring what that new direction could be.

For more abut this experience of longing to be doing something completely different but failing to move toward a new direction that will bring more reward and success, check out my Finding Brave podcast episode on what I refer to as a true power gap - Power Gap #6: Losing Sight Of the Thrilling Dream For Your Life, and how to close that power gap.

If you feel you’re made for more exciting things, then you are. Don’t feel guilty or ashamed of it or hide from it. Get moving in risk-free, small ways to start exploring new opportunities and directions.

#5: The outcomes that you’re working toward feel meaningless or negative to you.

Finally, how do you feel about the outcomes that your job supports? Do you love what you’re working on and do you feel it has contributive value in the world? Do you believe in the positive good of what you’re doing, and that what you’re spending your precious life energy on is indeed worth it? Or do you think that what your company is doing is actually wrong, unethical, unnecessary or even hurtful in the world?

You can’t thrive or even succeed a tiny bit if you don’t believe in what your organization is putting out in the world, or how they’re doing it. You simply cannot thrive if you subconsciously oppose what your employer and your work stand for in the world.

If any of these signs strike a chord for you, it’s time to make a change. The key question isn’t “Will you?” but "When will you finally honor what you know to be true about yourself and what you truly deserve to be and do?”

For more information, visit KathyCaprino.com, the Amazing Career Project course, Finding Brave podcast, the video “How To Know When It’s Time To Leave Your Job” and Career and Leadership growth programs.

For hands-on help to build a happier, more rewarding and successful career, work with Kathy or a member of her team.